King Edward VIIPrint Page

The statue commemorates King Edward VII. 

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.

The eldest son of Queen Victoria, Edward was rebellious into his adulthood and the Queen showed her displeasure by denying him any governmental position. Despite his lack of experience, Edward successfully negotiated England’s conciliation with France, earning him the title of ‘the peacemaker’, and his social reforms made him popular among his subjects.

The desire to create a monument to Edward in Melbourne took hold immediately following his death in 1910. Mackennal was commissioned to undertake the work on a tender of £1867, but the statue eventually cost three times that price. The outbreak of World War One delayed the statue’s production, but casting in London commenced at the war’s end.

MELBOURNE,– Wednesday. In the presence of a representative gathering of citizens the Governor-General Sir Ronald Ferguson, today unveiled an equestrian statue erected to the memory of the late King Edward. The statue is of striking proportions, and as specimen, of the sculptor's art it fully sustains the fame of its producer, Mr Bertram Mackennal, R.A. formerly of Melbourne, and now one of the world's leading sculptors. The statue is erected in Queen Victoria Avenue on huge granite pedestal overlooking St. Kilda road, from which it is separated only by a beautifully grassed lawn. 
Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas), 22 July 1920.

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